Is it normal to be irritated when people use "turtle" not tortoise?

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  • Normal, yes, but it also makes you pedantic and thus kind of a douchebag. Colloquially, "turtle" is used as an umbrella term to cover turtles, tortoises and terrapins.

    Think of it as slang.

    That said, I have my own pedantic pet peeve and that is when people mispronounce "et cetera" as "excetra"

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    • agreed about et cetera and the way language gets adapted colloquially. I dislike it, but it is the nature of languages.

      I admit I am pedantic, I disagree that it qualifies as any sort of douchebag. A term I usually reserve to people who go around being rude or unkind to others.

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      • Douchebag is generally a term I use for people who are pedantic or pretentious, so I would agree that your meaning and way of using the word would not apply to you. Although the way that I use it, I think it does if only slightly. I don't mean this as an insult, as it's something I would use to describe myself as well.

        Silly as it may sound, I think that is a perfect example of the flexibility of language :)

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        • Touché, my friend. You got me there. I <3 languages and the interesting changes as they develop over time.

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